In what follows, I will go on to talk about any number of ways that the Hurricanes played well on Thursday just like I talked about how they played horribly on Tuesday afternoon. But as much as anything, the past two games illustrate the random craziness that is NHL hockey.
The Hurricanes went being seemingly incompetent to capable of handily beating a top team on the road in a matter of two days. What even more illustrates the difference is that two games were not as wildly different as a first glance might indicate. No doubt the Hurricanes started better on Thursday, but at the end of the day the difference was a couple bounces and the play of the goalie. That really is it, and the primary causes of a seven-goal swing from down 4-1 early on Tuesday to being up 4-0 early on Thursday.
The same hockey gods that cursed Scott Darling on Tuesday made up for it on Tuesday by afflicting Nashville netminder Pekka Rinne with the same curse. Rinne had a couple get by him early that maybe were the ‘shrug and play the next one’ variety of goals, but then he capped it off with an ugly soft goal that saw a puck bounce up off him and into the net as if he was a Little League shortstop facing a bad hop.
The Hurricanes did also have a role in the first period surge. On the first goal, Noah Hanifin made a good play to creep closer to the net and at the same time create a passing lane to the front of the net where Derek Ryan niftily tipped it home. Then, also taking a page out of Justin Williams’ playbook, Elias Lindholm tipped home a second shot from a wide angle, and the Hurricanes were off to the races. Next Hanifin shot into traffic with Victor Rask coming to the front of the net, and the puck fortuitously caromed right off defenseman Roman Josi’s skate and into the net.
The three goals featured the common element of players going to the front of the net, but all three goals were the kind where they just as easily (and more likely actually) could have deflected wide of the net or right into Rinne. The story written tonight and tomorrow will be about the Hurricanes phenomenal first period when in reality the Hurricanes played well but at least as importantly caught some sunshine from the hockey gods and then benefited from a ‘goalie oops’ on the fourth goal.
The second period was a bit scary seeing Nashville push back and knowing the Hurricanes’ 2017-18 history in the period, but they exited the period with the same 4-1 lead with which they entered the period.
And I really liked the Hurricanes third period. The Hurricanes answered Nashville push, intensity and fits of nastiness well, and more importantly they continued competing and attacking rather than going into a shell trying to hold on. That third period was one of the better third periods the team has played defending a multi-goal lead.
Notes from the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1 win over the Nashville Predators
1) Noah Hanifin
As has regularly been the case for Hanifin of late, he was right in the middle of the Hurricanes’ scoring plays. He finished with a goal and two assists on the night and is continuing his growth as an offensive catalyst from the back end. Neither his first assist or his goal were anything Earth-shattering, but both showed Hanifin’s ability to use his mobility to create an opening to get the puck through to the front of the net. That is a great recipe for picking up goals and assists as a defenseman.
2) Cam Ward
In yesterday’s Daily Cup of Joe, I said, “This might sound strange, but I think right now he is the player with the greatest ability to boost the fortunes of the team.” I went so far as to tag Ward as the player with the highest potential to boost the Hurricanes’ fortunes right now.
Saturday should (I will be shocked if it is not) will mark the first time in 2017-18 that Ward has started consecutive games. With nice spacing, if Ward plays well, I see no reason why he will not also play Wednesday and at least one of the Friday/Saturday back-to-back that follows. If that all happens, Ward will be right back to being the #1. One key difference could be the fact that he should be fresh in late December whereas last year, he was in the early stages of being worn down by being overworked. Thus far in 2017-18, Ward has played in only 10 of 33 games.
Back to the matter at hand, I would describe Ward’s play on Thursday as steady and solid. He did not see many shots early, but he was ready when he did. And he had some timely saves in the second period when Nashville was pushing to climb back into the game.
3) Sebastian Aho
Though he did not get on the scoreboard, I again liked Aho’s game. I had him pegged as a rare bright spot in Tuesday’s debacle. He is skating well and playing fast and aggressive offensively right now. If he keeps up the pace and level of play, he should soon find his next burst of scoring.
4) Derek Ryan
His tip goal to start things off was a big one. Scoring early quickly eliminated the bad taste coming out of Tuesday’s loss and immediately changed the vibe. Ryan went on to add another assist in a solid two-point night.
5) A rebound for special teams
After failing at pretty much everything special teams-wise on Tuesday, the Hurricanes collected two power play goals early in going a respectable 2 for 6 on the night, and the penalty kill was a perfect 4 for 4 after giving up three goals on Tuesday.
6) Klas Dahlbeck
He continued his short streak of being able to hop into the lineup after a layoff and be at least serviceable. He gained Peters’ confidence as the game wore on and tallied a big 17:42 of ice time and also played a big role in the penalty kill’s perfect night.
7) Results matter – road trip tally
Awhile back I broke the schedule into two chunks that I said could be critical to the season. First was a short run of three home games during Thanksgiving week that I said were critical to pushing farther above .500 before hitting the road. (The Hurricanes failed in that assignment going 1-2.) Next up was a run of nine games with eight on the road. I said that the Hurricanes needed a 5-4 mark to slightly beat treading water. Whatever the maximum amount of adversity possible given success is, the Hurricanes hit that level going 5-4 in the 9 games but hitting some big lows in getting there.
Interestingly, the conclusion of the road trip brings on a deja vu stretch of schedule that again sees the Hurricanes home for the holidays. The team has home games book-ending Christmas and then another home game on Friday before hitting the road again. The team desperately needs to capitalize on home ice advantage and avoid using home holiday hockey to give back any gains and irritate the die-hard part of the fan base who could be at all three games.
Up next is a home match up against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. The Hurricanes will be seeking a higher level of play but the same result as the match up a week earlier in Buffalo.
Go Canes!
Matt. Of all the things you wrote, this was the truest: “the past two games illustrate the random craziness that is NHL hockey.”
It was the same team Tuesday and Thursday. Same leaders, same centers, same defense. OK, the goalie was different, but still. Think about this, the Canes have 10 points in 6 games against Nashville and Columbus. Carolina is a pretty good hockey team. They have been inconsistent this season. But they have also been disdained by the hockey gods. That started to change a little with Kruger’s goal in LV. We saw it again last night on Rask’s goal.
Believe me, I am NOT saying it is all luck, or even mostly luck. But thinking about the games agains Columbus and Nashville, I do believe that the team is good enough to compete most nights.
It would seem the key to the rest of the season is for the team to “make” their own breaks. If that continues to happen, there can still be meaningful hockey in April
It was a fun game to watch and not to throw cold water on things because I believe in this team, however, you are correct that the last two games were more alike than not. Hannifans offense is a great thing to see, however his defense, really more of his trying to leave the zone, had just as many oppss last night as Tuesday night. He is struggling with that part of his game. The good thing is he kept at it, is learning and will get better.
It’s amazing how 60 minutes of hockey can really change your outlook. We went from dread at Tuesday’s outcome to stepping up last night and having won 4 of the last 5, two against top division teams in regulation!
We definitely got some lucky bounces early last night, and honestly we were past due, but what was really obvious was the effort. That was one of the few games where we played the full 60 minutes. They didn’t become complacent after the early scoring barrage and really stepped up to match the Pred’s physicality in the 2nd and 3rd which was the exciting part for me to watch.
Hats off to Ward, he is playing some great hockey right now going 6-0-1 in his last 7 starts. He definitely deserves a few more starts and hope that Darling can have a chance to sit and regroup at least until the back-to-back against PIT and TBL at the end of the month.
We finally got to see a glimpse of the elite defense that everyone was talking about pre-season. Across the board I was pleased with the blue-line, even Faulk had a good game in my opinion. Hanifin didn’t have any major breakdowns defensively and had a big night offensively with 3 points. Dahlbeck had a great game and John and Tripp made a good point that he is making a hell of an argument for him to get another start on Saturday. I’m a big fan of Fleury so wouldn’t be disappointed either way but Dahlbeck is a great #7 when used on his natural side. TVR and Pesce have been our most consistent D this year and both continued that trend last night. Last but not least, Slavin! He’s back and I hope he’s here to stay. He had a BIG night. Stepping up and sealing the blue-line, especially on the PK, his stick was active, good positioning, and he seemed to have his quick start speed back. Last night reminded me of the EDM game back in October where he completely shut McDavid down all night. That was exciting as I was wearing my new #74 jersey the Mrs got me for Christmas.
All-in-all I am still optimistic that this team is capable of playing competitive hockey if we can consistently put in 60 minutes of effort and our goalie doesn’t completely fall apart. I will be at PNC on Saturday to watch us get win 5 of the last 6 against BUF!
Glad you mentioned Ryan. He is playing good hockey. He is playing above the level of many “third” centers in the league.
No one has mentioned this: Skinner appears to be looking to pass more. He has made several excellent passes the past 5-6 games. He still makes the occasional blind centering pass to no one, but in general he has added another dimension.
Skinny had perhaps his best all around game of the season. He was sound on the defensive end and played a team game on the offensive end. More of that please!
Random craziness indeed. It looked like we swapped jerseys from the Toronto game. Nashville came out flat as a team and we took it to them. It was fun to watch, not only how it started but how we finished it. We “kept playing the same way” and were rewarded for it.
There was a one big difference from a polarity change in Toronto, though. Laviolette swapped out his starting goalie for the backup, changing the flow of the game, and Nashville made a game out of it.
We used our depth, swapping out the goalies, Dahlbeck for Fleury on D, and PDG for Juice on the 4th line. All fit right in.
“Who is the starting goalie” is an interesting question, but the answer should generally be “whoever is playing best right now”. Ward has the hot hand this week so we should see more of him; When Darling has the hot hand we should see more of him. It is a long and grueling season and leveraging the ups and downs of individual players is an important part of management, imho.
Great summary and comments, I agree with them all. The only thing I’ll add about players is that Slavin looked to be back on his game last night. He was putting his body on puck carriers, matching speed, and using his stick more effectively. He looked like his old self last night and I hope that continues.
That is exactly the kind of game the team, and the fans, needed after Toronto. It was a complete mirror image of Toronto in terms of effort, defensive play, and goalie play. I’m pretty sure we’ll see Cam in net tomorrow night, and if he puts in another decent performance, Peters will probably ride him into the new year. As we’ve all seen this season, with the up and down nature of this team, the question is if they can maintain the level of consistent hard play they showed last night. Right now, that’s the biggest question we face.
Happy for the win as any Caniac would be. My only concern about a game like this is that we’ve seen it before (scoring a lot of goals in short time, then going quiet offensively for periods). It’s easy to understand Nashville turned it up a notch after Soros relieved Rinne, and it’s not that we played mediocre offense after the 4th goal, but it would have been a different kind of game had we potted another goal or two in the 2nd or 3rd. I think this type of inconsistency is still what separates us from the playoff caliber teams in the long run. Hoping GMRF can land another top 6 forward for the stretch.